Slide 6- 2
Relational Algebra Overview
Relational algebra is the basic set of operations
for the relational model
These operations enable a user to specify basic
retrieval requests (or queries)
The result of an operation is a new relation, which
may have been formed from one or more input
relations
This property makes the algebra “closed” (all
objects in relational algebra are relations)
Slide 6- 3
Relational Algebra Overview (continued)
The algebra operations thus produce new
relations
These can be further manipulated using
operations of the same algebra
A sequence of relational algebra operations
forms a relational algebra expression
The result of a relational algebra expression is also a
relation that represents the result of a database
query (or retrieval request)
Slide 6- 4
Brief History of Origins of Algebra
(from the author Navathe)
Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (800-847 CE) wrote a
book titled al-jabr about arithmetic of variables
Book was translated into Latin.
Its title (al-jabr) gave Algebra its name.
Al-Khwarizmi called variables “shay”
“Shay” is Arabic for “thing”.
Spanish transliterated “shay” as “xay” (“x” was “sh” in Spain).
In time this word was abbreviated as x.
Where does the word Algorithm come from?
Algorithm originates from “al-Khwarizmi"
Reference: PBS (http://www.pbs.org/empires/islam/innoalgebra.html)
Slide 6- 5
Relational Algebra Overview
Relational Algebra consists of several groups of operations
Unary Relational Operations
SELECT (symbol: σ (sigma))
PROJECT (symbol: π (pi))
RENAME (symbol: ρ (rho))
Relational Algebra Operations From Set Theory
UNION ( ∪ ), INTERSECTION ( ∩ ), DIFFERENCE (or MINUS, – )
CARTESIAN PRODUCT ( x )
Binary Relational Operations
JOIN (several variations of JOIN exist)
DIVISION
Additional Relational Operations
OUTER JOINS, OUTER UNION
AGGREGATE FUNCTIONS (These compute summary of
information: for example, SUM, COUNT, AVG, MIN, MAX)
Slide 6- 6
Database State for COMPANY
All examples discussed below refer to the COMPANY database
shown here.
Slide 6- 7
Unary Relational Operations: SELECT
The SELECT operation (denoted by σ (sigma)) is used to select a
subset of the tuples from a relation based on a selection condition.
The selection condition acts as a filter
Keeps only those tuples that satisfy the qualifying condition
Tuples satisfying the condition are selected whereas the
other tuples are discarded (filtered out)
Examples:
Select the EMPLOYEE tuples whose department number is 4:
σ DNO = 4 (EMPLOYEE)
Select the employee tuples whose salary is greater than $30,000:
σ SALARY > 30,000 (EMPLOYEE)
Slide 6- 8
Unary Relational Operations: SELECT
In general, the select operation is denoted by
σ <selection condition>(R) where
the symbol σ (sigma) is used to denote the select
operator
the selection condition is a Boolean (conditional)
expression specified on the attributes of relation R
tuples that make the condition true are selected
appear in the result of the operation
tuples that make the condition false are filtered out
discarded from the result of the operation
Slide 6- 9
Unary Relational Operations: SELECT
(contd.)
SELECT Operation Properties
The SELECT operation σ <selection condition>(R) produces a relation
S that has the same schema (same attributes) as R
SELECT σ is commutative:
σ
<condition1>(σ < condition2> (R)) = σ <condition2> (σ < condition1> (R))
Because of commutativity property, a cascade (sequence) of
SELECT operations can be applied in any order:
σ
<cond1>(σ<cond2> (σ<cond3> (R)) = σ<cond2> (σ<cond3> (σ<cond1> ( R)))
A cascade of SELECT operations can be replaced by a single
selection with a conjunction of all the conditions:
σ
<cond1>(σ< cond2> (σ<cond3>(R)) = σ <cond1> AND < cond2> AND < cond3>(R)))
The number of tuples in the result of a SELECT is less than
(or equal to) the number of tuples in the input relation R
Slide 6- 10
The following query results refer to this
database state
Slide 6- 11
Unary Relational Operations: PROJECT
PROJECT Operation is denoted by π (pi)
This operation keeps certain columns (attributes)
from a relation and discards the other columns.
PROJECT creates a vertical partitioning
The list of specified columns (attributes) is kept in
each tuple
The other attributes in each tuple are discarded
Example: To list each employee’s first and last
name and salary, the following is used:
πLNAME, FNAME,SALARY(EMPLOYEE)
Slide 6- 12
Unary Relational Operations: PROJECT
(cont.)
Slide 6- 13
Unary Relational Operations: PROJECT
(contd.)
PROJECT Operation Properties
The number of tuples in the result of projection π
<list>(R) is always less or equal to the number of
tuples in R
If the list of attributes includes a key of R, then the
number of tuples in the result of PROJECT is equal
to the number of tuples in R
PROJECT is not commutative
π <list1> (π <list2> (R) ) = π <list1> (R) as long as <list2>
contains the attributes in <list1>
Slide 6- 14
Examples of applying SELECT and
PROJECT operations
Slide 6- 15
Relational Algebra Expressions
We may want to apply several relational algebra
operations one after the other
Either we can write the operations as a single
relational algebra expression by nesting the
operations, or
We can apply one operation at a time and create
intermediate result relations.
In the latter case, we must give names to the
relations that hold the intermediate results.
Slide 6- 16
Single expression versus sequence of
relational operations (Example)
To retrieve the first name, last name, and salary of all
employees who work in department number 5, we must
apply a select and a project operation
We can write a single relational algebra expression as
follows:
π
FNAME, LNAME, SALARY(σ DNO=5(EMPLOYEE))
OR We can explicitly show the sequence of operations,
giving a name to each intermediate relation:
DEP5_EMPS ← σ
DNO=5(EMPLOYEE)
Slide 6- 17
Unary Relational Operations: RENAME
The RENAME operator is denoted by ρ (rho)
In some cases, we may want to rename the
attributes of a relation or the relation name or
both
Useful when a query requires multiple
operations
Necessary in some cases (see JOIN operation
later)
Slide 6- 18
Unary Relational Operations: RENAME
(contd.)
The general RENAME operation ρ can be
expressed by any of the following forms:
ρS (B1, B2, …, Bn )(R) changes both:
the relation name to S, and
the column (attribute) names to B1, B1, …..Bn
ρS(R) changes:
the relation name only to S
ρ(B1, B2, …, Bn )(R) changes:
the column (attribute) names only to B1, B1, …..Bn
Slide 6- 19
Unary Relational Operations: RENAME
(contd.)
For convenience, we also use a shorthand for
renaming attributes in an intermediate relation:
If we write:
• RESULT ← π FNAME, LNAME, SALARY (DEP5_EMPS)
• RESULT will have the same attribute names as
DEP5_EMPS (same attributes as EMPLOYEE)
• If we write:
• RESULT (F, M, L, S, B, A, SX, SAL, SU, DNO)←
ρ RESULT (F.M.L.S.B,A,SX,SAL,SU, DNO)(DEP5_EMPS)
• The 10 attributes of DEP5_EMPS are renamed to
F, M, L, S, B, A, SX, SAL, SU, DNO, respectively
Slide 6- 20
Example of applying multiple operations
and RENAME
Slide 6- 21
Relational Algebra Operations from
Set Theory: UNION
UNION Operation
Binary operation, denoted by ∪
The result of R ∪ S, is a relation that includes all
tuples that are either in R or in S or in both R and
S
Duplicate tuples are eliminated
The two operand relations R and S must be “type
compatible” (or UNION compatible)
R and S must have same number of attributes
Each pair of corresponding attributes must be type
compatible (have same or compatible domains)
Slide 6- 22
Relational Algebra Operations from
Set Theory: UNION
Example:
To retrieve the social security numbers of all employees who
either work in department 5 (RESULT1 below) or directly
supervise an employee who works in department 5 (RESULT2
below)
We can use the UNION operation as follows:
DEP5_EMPS ← σDNO=5 (EMPLOYEE)
RESULT1 ← π SSN(DEP5_EMPS)
RESULT2(SSN) ← πSUPERSSN(DEP5_EMPS)
RESULT ← RESULT1 ∪ RESULT2
The union operation produces the tuples that are in either
RESULT1 or RESULT2 or both
Slide 6- 23
Example of the result of a UNION
operation
UNION Example
Slide 6- 24
Relational Algebra Operations from
Set Theory
Type Compatibility of operands is required for the binary
set operation UNION ∪, (also for INTERSECTION ∩, and
SET DIFFERENCE –, see next slides)
R1(A1, A2, ..., An) and R2(B1, B2, ..., Bn) are type
compatible if:
they have the same number of attributes, and
the domains of corresponding attributes are type compatible
(i.e. dom(Ai)=dom(Bi) for i=1, 2, ..., n).
The resulting relation for R1∪R2 (also for R1∩R2, or R1–
R2, see next slides) has the same attribute names as the
first operand relation R1 (by convention)
Slide 6- 25
Relational Algebra Operations from Set
Theory: INTERSECTION
INTERSECTION is denoted by ∩
The result of the operation R ∩ S, is a
relation that includes all tuples that are in
both R and S
The attribute names in the result will be the
same as the attribute names in R
The two operand relations R and S must be
“type compatible”
Slide 6- 26
Relational Algebra Operations from Set
Theory: SET DIFFERENCE (cont.)
SET DIFFERENCE (also called MINUS or
EXCEPT) is denoted by –
The result of R – S, is a relation that includes all
tuples that are in R but not in S
The attribute names in the result will be the
same as the attribute names in R
The two operand relations R and S must be
“type compatible”
Slide 6- 27
Example to illustrate the result of UNION,
INTERSECT, and DIFFERENCE
Slide 6- 28
Some properties of UNION, INTERSECT,
and DIFFERENCE
Notice that both union and intersection are commutative
operations; that is
R ∪ S = S ∪ R, and R ∩ S = S ∩ R
Both union and intersection can be treated as n-ary
operations applicable to any number of relations as both
are associative operations; that is
R ∪ (S ∪ T) = (R ∪ S) ∪ T
(R ∩ S) ∩ T = R ∩ (S ∩ T)
The minus operation is not commutative; that is, in
general
R–S≠S–R
Slide 6- 29
Relational Algebra Operations from Set
Theory: CARTESIAN PRODUCT
CARTESIAN (or CROSS) PRODUCT Operation
This operation is used to combine tuples from two relations
in a combinatorial fashion.
Denoted by R(A1, A2, . . ., An) x S(B1, B2, . . ., Bm)
Result is a relation Q with degree n + m attributes:
Q(A1, A2, . . ., An, B1, B2, . . ., Bm), in that order.
The resulting relation state has one tuple for each
combination of tuples—one from R and one from S.
Hence, if R has nR tuples (denoted as |R| = nR ), and S has
nS tuples, then R x S will have nR * nS tuples.
The two operands do NOT have to be "type compatible”
Slide 6- 30
Relational Algebra Operations from Set
Theory: CARTESIAN PRODUCT (cont.)
Generally, CROSS PRODUCT is not a
meaningful operation
Can become meaningful when followed by other
operations
Example (not meaningful):
FEMALE_EMPS ← σ SEX=’F’(EMPLOYEE)
EMPNAMES ← π FNAME, LNAME, SSN (FEMALE_EMPS)
EMP_DEPENDENTS ← EMPNAMES x DEPENDENT
EMP_DEPENDENTS will contain every combination of
EMPNAMES and DEPENDENT
whether or not they are actually related
Slide 6- 31
Relational Algebra Operations from Set
Theory: CARTESIAN PRODUCT (cont.)
To keep only combinations where the
DEPENDENT is related to the EMPLOYEE, we
add a SELECT operation as follows
Example (meaningful):
FEMALE_EMPS ← σ SEX=’F’(EMPLOYEE)
EMPNAMES ← π FNAME, LNAME, SSN (FEMALE_EMPS)
EMP_DEPENDENTS ← EMPNAMES x DEPENDENT
ACTUAL_DEPS ← σ SSN=ESSN(EMP_DEPENDENTS)
RESULT ← π FNAME, LNAME, DEPENDENT_NAME (ACTUAL_DEPS)
RESULT will now contain the name of female employees
and their dependents
Slide 6- 32
Example of applying CARTESIAN
PRODUCT
Slide 6- 33
Binary Relational Operations: JOIN
JOIN Operation (denoted by )
The sequence of CARTESIAN PRODUCT followed by
SELECT is used quite commonly to identify and select
related tuples from two relations
A special operation, called JOIN combines this sequence
into a single operation
This operation is very important for any relational database
with more than a single relation, because it allows us
combine related tuples from various relations
The general form of a join operation on two relations R(A1,
A2, . . ., An) and S(B1, B2, . . ., Bm) is:
R <join condition>S
where R and S can be any relations that result from general
relational algebra expressions.
Slide 6- 34
Binary Relational Operations: JOIN (cont.)
Example: Suppose that we want to retrieve the name of the
manager of each department.
To get the manager’s name, we need to combine each
DEPARTMENT tuple with the EMPLOYEE tuple whose SSN
value matches the MGRSSN value in the department tuple.
We do this by using the join operation.
Slide 6- 35
Example of applying the JOIN operation
Slide 6- 36
Some properties of JOIN
Consider the following JOIN operation:
R(A1, A2, . . ., An) S(B1, B2, . . ., Bm)
R.Ai=S.Bj
Result is a relation Q with degree n + m attributes:
Q(A1, A2, . . ., An, B1, B2, . . ., Bm), in that order.
The resulting relation state has one tuple for each
combination of tuples—r from R and s from S, but only if
they satisfy the join condition r[Ai]=s[Bj]
Hence, if R has nR tuples, and S has nS tuples, then the join
result will generally have less than nR * nS tuples.
Only related tuples (based on the join condition) will appear
in the result
Slide 6- 37
Some properties of JOIN
The general case of JOIN operation is called a
Theta-join: R S
theta
The join condition is called theta
Theta can be any general boolean expression on
the attributes of R and S; for example:
R.Ai<S.Bj AND (R.Ak=S.Bl OR R.Ap<S.Bq)
Most join conditions involve one or more equality
conditions “AND”ed together; for example:
R.Ai=S.Bj AND R.Ak=S.Bl AND R.Ap=S.Bq
Slide 6- 38
Binary Relational Operations: EQUIJOIN
EQUIJOIN Operation
The most common use of join involves join
conditions with equality comparisons only
Such a join, where the only comparison operator
used is =, is called an EQUIJOIN.
In the result of an EQUIJOIN we always have one
or more pairs of attributes (whose names need not
be identical) that have identical values in every
tuple.
The JOIN seen in the previous example was an
EQUIJOIN.
Slide 6- 39
Binary Relational Operations:
NATURAL JOIN Operation
NATURAL JOIN Operation
Another variation of JOIN called NATURAL JOIN —
denoted by * — was created to get rid of the second
(superfluous) attribute in an EQUIJOIN condition.
because one of each pair of attributes with identical values is
superfluous
The standard definition of natural join requires that the two
join attributes, or each pair of corresponding join attributes,
have the same name in both relations
If this is not the case, a renaming operation is applied first.
Slide 6- 40
Binary Relational Operations
NATURAL JOIN (contd.)
Example: To apply a natural join on the DNUMBER attributes of
DEPARTMENT and DEPT_LOCATIONS, it is sufficient to write:
DEPT_LOCS ← DEPARTMENT * DEPT_LOCATIONS
Only attribute with the same name is DNUMBER
An implicit join condition is created based on this attribute:
DEPARTMENT.DNUMBER=DEPT_LOCATIONS.DNUMBER
Slide 6- 41
Example of NATURAL JOIN operation
Slide 6- 42
Complete Set of Relational Operations
The set of operations including SELECT σ,
PROJECT π , UNION ∪, DIFFERENCE − ,
RENAME ρ, and CARTESIAN PRODUCT X is
called a complete set because any other
relational algebra expression can be expressed
by a combination of these five operations.
For example:
R ∩ S = (R ∪ S ) – ((R − S) ∪ (S − R))
R <join condition>S = σ <join condition> (R X S)
Slide 6- 43
Binary Relational Operations: DIVISION
DIVISION Operation
The division operation is applied to two relations
R(Z) ÷ S(X), where X subset Z. Let Y = Z - X (and hence Z
= X ∪ Y); that is, let Y be the set of attributes of R that are
not attributes of S.
Slide 6- 44
Example of DIVISION
Slide 6- 45
Recap of Relational Algebra Operations
Slide 6- 46
Query Tree Notation
Query Tree
An internal data structure to represent a query
Standard technique for estimating the work involved in
renaming, division, ….
Leaf nodes represent base relations
Slide 6- 47
Example of Query Tree
Slide 6- 48
Additional Relational Operations:
Aggregate Functions and Grouping
A type of request that cannot be expressed in the basic
relational algebra is to specify mathematical aggregate
functions on collections of values from the database.
Examples of such functions include retrieving the average
or total salary of all employees or the total number of
employee tuples.
These functions are used in simple statistical queries that
summarize information from the database tuples.
Common functions applied to collections of numeric
values include
SUM, AVERAGE, MAXIMUM, and MINIMUM.
The COUNT function is used for counting tuples or
values.
Slide 6- 49
Aggregate Function Operation
Use of the Aggregate Functional operation ℱ
ℱMAX Salary (EMPLOYEE) retrieves the maximum salary value
from the EMPLOYEE relation
ℱMIN Salary (EMPLOYEE) retrieves the minimum Salary value
from the EMPLOYEE relation
ℱSUM Salary (EMPLOYEE) retrieves the sum of the Salary from
the EMPLOYEE relation
ℱCOUNT SSN, AVERAGE Salary (EMPLOYEE) computes the count
(number) of employees and their average salary
Note: count just counts the number of rows, without removing
duplicates
Slide 6- 50
Using Grouping with Aggregation
The previous examples all summarized one or more
attributes for a set of tuples
Maximum Salary or Count (number of) Ssn
Grouping can be combined with Aggregate Functions
Example: For each department, retrieve the DNO,
COUNT SSN, and AVERAGE SALARY
A variation of aggregate operation ℱ allows this:
Grouping attribute placed to left of symbol
Aggregate functions to right of symbol
DNO ℱCOUNT SSN, AVERAGE Salary (EMPLOYEE)
Slide 6- 51
Examples of applying aggregate functions
and grouping
Slide 6- 52
Illustrating aggregate functions and
grouping
Slide 6- 53
Additional Relational Operations (cont.)
Recursive Closure Operations
Another type of operation that, in general,
Slide 6- 55
Additional Relational Operations (cont.)
Slide 6- 56
Additional Relational Operations (cont.)
The OUTER JOIN Operation
In NATURAL JOIN and EQUIJOIN, tuples without a
matching (or related) tuple are eliminated from the join
result
Tuples with null in the join attributes are also eliminated
This amounts to loss of information.
A set of operations, called OUTER joins, can be used when
we want to keep all the tuples in R, or all those in S, or all
those in both relations in the result of the join, regardless of
whether or not they have matching tuples in the other
relation.
Slide 6- 57
Additional Relational Operations (cont.)
The left outer join operation keeps every tuple in
the first or left relation R in R S; if no matching
tuple is found in S, then the attributes of S in the
join result are filled or “padded” with null values.
A similar operation, right outer join, keeps every
tuple in the second or right relation S in the result
of R S.
A third operation, full outer join, denoted by
keeps all tuples in both the left and the right
relations when no matching tuples are found,
padding them with null values as needed.
Slide 6- 58
Additional Relational Operations (cont.)
Slide 6- 59
Additional Relational Operations (cont.)
OUTER UNION Operations
The outer union operation was developed to take
the union of tuples from two relations if the
relations are not type compatible.
This operation will take the union of tuples in two
relations R(X, Y) and S(X, Z) that are partially
compatible, meaning that only some of their
attributes, say X, are type compatible.
The attributes that are type compatible are
represented only once in the result, and those
attributes that are not type compatible from either
relation are also kept in the result relation T(X, Y,
Z).
Slide 6- 60
Additional Relational Operations (cont.)
Example: An outer union can be applied to two relations
whose schemas are STUDENT(Name, SSN, Department,
Advisor) and INSTRUCTOR(Name, SSN, Department,
Rank).
Tuples from the two relations are matched based on having the
same combination of values of the shared attributes— Name,
SSN, Department.
If a student is also an instructor, both Advisor and Rank will
have a value; otherwise, one of these two attributes will be null.
The result relation STUDENT_OR_INSTRUCTOR will have the
following attributes:
STUDENT_OR_INSTRUCTOR (Name, SSN, Department,
Advisor, Rank)
Slide 6- 61
Examples of Queries in Relational
Algebra : Procedural Form
Q1: Retrieve the name and address of all employees who work for the
‘Research’ department.
RESEARCH_DEPT ← σ DNAME=’Research’ (DEPARTMENT)
RESEARCH_EMPS ← (RESEARCH_DEPT DNUMBER= DNOEMPLOYEE EMPLOYEE)
RESULT ← π FNAME, LNAME, ADDRESS (RESEARCH_EMPS)
Slide 6- 62
Examples of Queries in Relational
Algebra – Single expressions
Slide 6- 63
Relational Calculus
A relational calculus expression creates a new
relation, which is specified in terms of variables
that range over rows of the stored database
relations (in tuple calculus) or over columns of
the stored relations (in domain calculus).
In a calculus expression, there is no order of
operations to specify how to retrieve the query
result—a calculus expression specifies only what
information the result should contain.
This is the main distinguishing feature between
relational algebra and relational calculus.
Slide 6- 64
Relational Calculus (Contd.)
Relational calculus is considered to be a
nonprocedural or declarative language.
This differs from relational algebra, where we
must write a sequence of operations to specify a
retrieval request; hence relational algebra can be
considered as a procedural way of stating a
query.
Slide 6- 65
Tuple Relational Calculus
The tuple relational calculus is based on specifying a
number of tuple variables.
Each tuple variable usually ranges over a particular
database relation, meaning that the variable may take as
its value any individual tuple from that relation.
A simple tuple relational calculus query is of the form
{t | COND(t)}
where t is a tuple variable and COND (t) is a conditional
expression involving t.
The result of such a query is the set of all tuples t that
satisfy COND (t).
Slide 6- 66
Tuple Relational Calculus (Contd.)
Slide 6- 67
The Existential and Universal Quantifiers
Two special symbols called quantifiers can appear in
formulas; these are the universal quantifier (∀) and the
existential quantifier (∃).
Informally, a tuple variable t is bound if it is quantified,
meaning that it appears in an (∀ t) or (∃ t) clause;
otherwise, it is free.
If F is a formula, then so are (∃ t)(F) and (∀ t)(F), where t
is a tuple variable.
The formula (∃ t)(F) is true if the formula F evaluates to
true for some (at least one) tuple assigned to free
occurrences of t in F; otherwise (∃ t)(F) is false.
The formula (∀ t)(F) is true if the formula F evaluates to true
for every tuple (in the universe) assigned to free
occurrences of t in F; otherwise (∀ t)(F) is false.
Slide 6- 68
The Existential and Universal
Quantifiers (Contd.)
∀ is called the universal or “for all” quantifier
because every tuple in “the universe of” tuples
must make F true to make the quantified formula
true.
∃ is called the existential or “there exists”
quantifier because any tuple that exists in “the
universe of” tuples may make F true to make the
quantified formula true.
Slide 6- 69
Example Query Using Existential
Quantifier
Retrieve the name and address of all employees who work for the
‘Research’ department. The query can be expressed as :
{t.FNAME, t.LNAME, t.ADDRESS | EMPLOYEE(t) and (∃ d)
(DEPARTMENT(d) and d.DNAME=‘Research’ and
d.DNUMBER=t.DNO) }
The only free tuple variables in a relational calculus expression
should be those that appear to the left of the bar ( | ).
In above query, t is the only free variable; it is then bound
Slide 6- 70
Example Query Using Universal
Quantifier
Find the names of employees who work on all the projects controlled by
department number 5. The query can be:
{e.LNAME, e.FNAME | EMPLOYEE(e) and ( (∀ x)(not(PROJECT(x)) or
not(x.DNUM=5)
OR ( (∃ w)(WORKS_ON(w) and w.ESSN=e.SSN and
x.PNUMBER=w.PNO))))}
Exclude from the universal quantification all tuples that we are not interested
in by making the condition true for all such tuples.
The first tuples to exclude (by making them evaluate automatically to true) are
those that are not in the relation R of interest.
In query above, using the expression not(PROJECT(x)) inside the universally
quantified formula evaluates to true all tuples x that are not in the PROJECT
relation.
Then we exclude the tuples we are not interested in from R itself. The
expression not(x.DNUM=5) evaluates to true all tuples x that are in the project
relation but are not controlled by department 5.
Finally, we specify a condition that must hold on all the remaining tuples in R.
( (∃ w)(WORKS_ON(w) and w.ESSN=e.SSN and x.PNUMBER=w.PNO)
Slide 6- 71
Languages Based on Tuple Relational
Calculus
The language SQL is based on tuple calculus. It uses the
basic block structure to express the queries in tuple
calculus:
SELECT <list of attributes>
FROM <list of relations>
WHERE <conditions>
SELECT clause mentions the attributes being projected,
the FROM clause mentions the relations needed in the
query, and the WHERE clause mentions the selection as
well as the join conditions.
SQL syntax is expanded further to accommodate other
operations. (See Chapter 8).
Slide 6- 72
Languages Based on Tuple Relational
Calculus (Contd.)
Another language which is based on tuple calculus is
QUEL which actually uses the range variables as in tuple
calculus. Its syntax includes:
RANGE OF <variable name> IS <relation name>
Then it uses
RETRIEVE <list of attributes from range variables>
WHERE <conditions>
This language was proposed in the relational DBMS
INGRES. (system is currently still supported by Computer
Associates – but the QUEL language is no longer there).
Slide 6- 73
The Domain Relational Calculus
Another variation of relational calculus called the domain relational
calculus, or simply, domain calculus is equivalent to tuple calculus
and to relational algebra.
The language called QBE (Query-By-Example) that is related to
domain calculus was developed almost concurrently to SQL at IBM
Research, Yorktown Heights, New York.
Domain calculus was thought of as a way to explain what QBE
does.
Domain calculus differs from tuple calculus in the type of variables
used in formulas:
Rather than having variables range over tuples, the variables
Slide 6- 74
The Domain Relational Calculus (Contd.)
An expression of the domain calculus is of the
form
{ x1, x2, . . ., xn |
COND(x1, x2, . . ., xn, xn+1, xn+2, . . ., xn+m)}
where x1, x2, . . ., xn, xn+1, xn+2, . . ., xn+m are domain
variables that range over domains (of attributes)
and COND is a condition or formula of the domain
relational calculus.
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Example Query Using Domain Calculus
Retrieve the birthdate and address of the employee whose name is ‘John B. Smith’.
Query :
{uv | (∃ q) (∃ r) (∃ s) (∃ t) (∃ w) (∃ x) (∃ y) (∃ z)
(EMPLOYEE(qrstuvwxyz) and q=’John’ and r=’B’ and s=’Smith’)}
Ten variables for the employee relation are needed, one to range over the
domain of each attribute in order.
Of the ten variables q, r, s, . . ., z, only u and v are free.
Specify the requested attributes, BDATE and ADDRESS, by the free domain
variables u for BDATE and v for ADDRESS.
Specify the condition for selecting a tuple following the bar ( | )—
namely, that the sequence of values assigned to the variables qrstuvwxyz be
a tuple of the employee relation and that the values for q (FNAME), r (MINIT),
and s (LNAME) be ‘John’, ‘B’, and ‘Smith’, respectively.
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QBE: A Query Language Based on
Domain Calculus (Appendix C)
This language is based on the idea of giving an example
of a query using “example elements” which are nothing
but domain variables.
Notation: An example element stands for a domain
variable and is specified as an example value preceded
by the underscore character.
P. (called P dot) operator (for “print”) is placed in those
columns which are requested for the result of the query.
A user may initially start giving actual values as examples,
but later can get used to providing a minimum number of
variables as example elements.
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QBE: A Query Language Based on
Domain Calculus (Appendix C)
The language is very user-friendly, because it
uses minimal syntax.
QBE was fully developed further with facilities for
grouping, aggregation, updating etc. and is
shown to be equivalent to SQL.
The language is available under QMF (Query
Management Facility) of DB2 of IBM and has
been used in various ways by other products like
ACCESS of Microsoft, and PARADOX.
For details, see Appendix C in the text.
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